azzurro's 1969 FIAT 125 Berlina

[azzurro]

ripped out the smokey but reliable 1608 and 4 speed this weekend with some help from EURON8 on saturday.

 

we managed to pull the 1608 and get the 2L and 5 speed in the hole in an afternoon. Engine bay is just to short longways for it to fit easily.

 

 

Today ive spent most of my time dodging showers, but managed to fill the big    hole with metal, and make a solid dent in the list of things needing connected up.

 

All going well shoud be running by next weekend

 

 

 

ive got a few bits still to pull off the 1608:

- ajdustable cam wheels
- oil filter sandwich plate for guage

 

Things i already need,

- 2l secondaries - my 1608 ones are jammed up on the underside of the floor as the 2L is about 15mm taller. Good excuse to make some.

[azzurro]

This box turned up after 2 weeks just sitting in "customs clearance" i ended up ringing them to give them a hurry up, so I could give them some tax + even more money than the tax, for calculating the tax, and delaying delivery.

Of course it contains a few thing i was hoping would arrive earlier so i could install them before installing the gearbox

 

Like
- tranny mount, and
- reverse switch

 

but it also contains
- Koni yellows for the front 
- handbrake switch
- external voltage regulator (OEM points style one is back in, the other SS one went flickery a while back)
- 'High Performance' HEI ignition controller - i have a later style coil i want to try with the Pertronix conversion i have - which also got it wires pinched inside the dizzy which i didnt pick up till swapping the engines - thatll be the high speed miss them 
- front wheel bearing grease caps because shiney.

 

Ive now installed the Tranny Mount, but the reverse light can wait for another day.

No reason to waste a gearbox worth of oil without moving a meter!

 

In other news

 

Engine all ready for first start:

 

gosh they look good and make an awesome noise!

 

things are going great with the engine and box is obviously all sweet, so install all the carpet and console,

still using the 4 speed one, which ive ajusted only slightly, and the only issue is the cabin heater flaps maybe 10mm less opening, as console is sitting slightly further forward.

 

Thats saturday done, so next day Sunday, ready for a test drive:

 

Unfortunately, once we got down onto the road found that 1st and 2nd could not be selected, something which was not obvious from pushing it around and adjusting the clutch travel, and im sure it was fine before installation.
After making bad smells with my !BRAND NEW! clutch it eventually got reversed (lowest working gear!) into the shed, in anger dissapointment.

 

Upstairs to celebrate INTERNATIONAL ROAST DAY madethe day end a bit better.

[azzurro]

So Monday after work (after thinking about it all day)  i pulled the console, gear stick, carpet, seat mounts, tunnel section and then extension to see this:

 

 

     see if you can spot the assembly error

ANSWER: Spring and Washer between (1) and (3) are around the wrong way. Sping binds instead of dissapearing into (1) preventing sufficient movement to the left (right on gear stick)

 

I totally blame Mr C Grant, as the buck stops at the top.

 

Because of that dumb mistake, the gear selector lever (1) was unable to engage with 1st/2nd selector rod (5)
which you can just see it sitting in 3/4 selector/neutral position deep in there:

 

a thicker gasket (ie a gasket) was also installed on the retaining plate (4) to further increase the clearance for the selector to slide over into 1st.

And all back together and done! 1st and second selecting, and carpet back in

 

lucky the tunnel isnt welded yet...

 

Im picking up some 2L secondaries later this week that will hopefully allow clearance for the exhuast under the floor, and a 2L cam cover so i can properly set/reference the ignition timing, so proper test drives soon

[azzurro]

Visited the dude i got the sideys from originally to grab a few bits to knock off a couple of other jobs.

 

Got a 2L Cam cover for checking the the ign timing.

 

Its 'pre raced', chopped down for easy access to the cam wheels and came with a nicely race-drilled dizzy shield to stop stones flicking up and cracking the dizzy (which was apparrently a common issue in rally for these cars - who knew!)

Anyway, I blardy love it.

 

Ignition Timing was also spot on 

 

Also picked up a couple of 2L 131 secondaries hoping to just be able to bolt one up. However, the routing is quite different between the two cars (131 - 125)!

 

L-R 131 OEM 34mm ID, 131 exhaust shop special 36mm ID, 125 OEM 34mm ID

 

125 has a much longer pipe run which is good, but has more tight bends which is not good.

Ended up using the top 40mm off the bigger diameter 131 exhaust to 'slip' on to extend the 125 secondaries about 15-20mm vertically, which is all it needed to fit perfectly.

 

Next Job: Test drive!  

 

up the road a couple of times, then around the block, and then to the shop to get a paper.

Great success, went the long way round and got it into 5th for a bit too

 

It feels way more solid all round, pulls well (ohhh the tourque) from all revs and the induction noise is just great.
Did a wheely on dry pavement. Wet is just cheating now.
No problems starting when hot or cold. No leaks, no funny noises

 

Very happy, so gave it a wash.

 

- Ajusted the clutch.
- Replaced earth strap.
- Swapped the spare OEM points voltage regulator for my new electronic one (solid on just over 14V now).
- Put the Pertronix dizzy back in, along with the new HEI controller & special coil. No go, no spark.
Old fat  Coil back in, and runs off the Pertronix fine. Hope that the HEI is not a dud will check coil too.

 

Car is sweet now, but still a few little things

 

TO DO:

 

- Fuel bowl in my pressure regulator is not filling - maybe (new) pump not working right on 2L? Maybe its time to go electric.
- Put konis in.
- HEI? sigh.
- Put front croma seatbelts in (retractable)
- move amp to under passenger seat
- take all unneeded engine/tranny stuff to storage
- strip croma
- start turbo swap...lol

[azzurro]

Drove the car to town and got a WoF yesterday 

used 1/4 tank over 60km. Making the carbs bark is very addictive!

 

EURON8 had a drive - his hopefully his engine swap plans have been given a kick up the bum.

 

Car also got a wax for being good.

 

I fitted my first ever Croma parts - retractable seat belts - much much nicer.

 

Also moved the Amp to under the seat from the passenger footplate (to give more passenger leg room, it was a dumb idea that had never bothered me untill not being the driver for once) and also took the fluffy seat covers off to revel in the velour.

 

Went up north to visit my grandmother today, used another 1/2 tank of gas.

 

Here is why:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=F9TE4N8ozSk

 

cant stop doOOOOOOOOOrting

 

 

Also used no oil or water, and starts first pop.

[azzurro]

not much going on with this, its been very reliable so not really driven it anywhere 

 

got a new project, even getting a bit of help with this one,

putting on the WL + pinstripe

heaps of low speed fun. just needs a front brake cable.

 

The new engine has been great, no leaks or oil consumption.

Fixed a small split in vac hose.

 

Have also changed the carb jetting, bit richer idle (no popping out the carbs now) and leaner main, with a slightly larger main air. Plugs are a nice brown now, not black.
Fuel flow is still an issue, next job is electric pump.

 

I also had to swap the rear brakes off again for major piston leaks, hopefully i get 3rd time lucky 
If they leak again I will start the conversion to the Croma brakes, which is still just sitting on the lawn.

I need to buy a trailer.

 

Anyway while im bleeding the fronts, may as well swap the KYBs for nice new Konis 

 

road test

[azzurro]

took the fiat for a drive to test out the new shocks, with Chris and Tara

300km round trip for pizza and a walk on the beach

 

They are on full soft, and while a wee bit stiffer than the KYBs are less bouncy, yet firmer, and were well tested on a range of road surfaces.

 

Rally test

 

Instagram that shit

 

copilot

 

hardparking

 

in the weeds

 

Defintly need a wheel alignment and to bleed the brakes again. Engine is still great - oil is still clean and clear and havnt topped it up once since building it

[azzurro]

Took the car to get a wheel alighnment done the day of BF meet, which was all good (guy was very complementary, also mentioed it is also very straight) but car started missing on the motorway commute back home to pick up the family.and had to stop for a fiddle a few times, and at home but couldnt solve it.

Was not running very well to or from BF either, nearly had another solo meet at Henderson, but kept rolling. Feels like the miss that ive always had right at the top end was getting more random and slowly moving moving down the rev range.

New fuel regulator guage says no, fuel pressure fine (2.5-3.5 psi)

 

Next culprit, Spark.

Ohoh, thats not supposed to be there - oil must have wicked up the dizzy shaft, and started messing with the Pertronix sensor.

Must be time for full electronic dizzy time!

 

Ive been meaning to do this for a while, and had been collecting bits, just missing the 'special' dizzy to HEI module cable. (2 tiny female spades on dizzy to 1 normal and one middle size spade on module)

These were as fitted to Lancia Betas i think, and came with the big pile of parts that came with the first 2L engine i got.

 

I spent the day making 1 good dizzy from the three i have (Bosch Z44),

 

it has a reluctor instead of points, still with a mechanical advance, and is the same overall size as the old points one ive been using for ever and is much more modern (date stamp says 78, vs 68 for the old one):

 

L: Magetti Marelli S144 with Pertronix kit, R: Bosch Z44 with reluctor and homemade cable

 

this then runs to a GM style "Hi performance" Acell HEI that sits on the special heat sink thiing under the Magnetti Marelli coil (sorry its such a terrible pic - wiring in that corner is also terrible).

 

After getting the static timing close, it fired up into a steady idle straight away

Only issue is the Tach is a bit lazy now?

Run to Coffee and Classics <link> and then the long way home it went super duper awesome.

 

Then

• rebled the brakes (finally got the bubble out that was making it spongy, and yay still no leaks from rear brakes!),
• tightened the handbrake,
• adusted clutch cable
• checked diff oil (not low but gone manky - water ingress?)
• gbox oil (drained a bit as it was a touch overfull, but very clean and no leaks) 
• put in gbox reverse switch,
• new front wheel bearing caps,
• and swapped tyres round and fitted center bore locating rings.

All set for Leadfoot

 

THEN DRAGS

 

Have an egine bay pic since im finally actually happy with how its running!

[azzurro]

Not been up to much with this, have been building a large trailer from a massive one to get rid of the croma instead.

 

i did buy myself a early xmas pressie which arrived last week

 

and have modified to suit my taste

 

Coffee and Classics today, ran great, used no oil.

 

 

Drag day soon!!

 

made a couple of mods in preperation including finally buying some rubber glue for the falley-off rear boot seal and putting a floor mat under the springs in the saggy drivers seat. Cushy.

 

Radiator has a slight weep thats not getting worse, not fixed itself either, base of the neck needs a pinhole resoldering i think.

 

Need to check diff oil.

 

 

[azzurro]

OS Drags Post:

 

Great weekend and had a very enjoyable time.

 

Dropped my times from 18.6s @xx mph to 17.34 @ 78.1mph (best time) and all my runs were within 0.5 seconds, so pretty happy with that,

 

even tho i was secrety hoping for more (16s), with a good 2l engine, side drafts and lighter wheels, over last time, where i had a 1608cc engine with a troublesome single downdraft and 14" 132 iron cross steelies.

 

Maybe those 1608s arnt so bad

 

Anyway pics courtesy of others:

 

Mr Potatohead has his angry eyes on

 

 

holey shit im winning! (TBF that Stephens Mazda 808 is still 1300cc piston powered )

Some of mine:

Many many more & better pics here:

//oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/44969-oldschool-drag-day-discussion-thread/page-20

[azzurro]

After drag day where i felt i was running out of gas, ive put a small Facet pump ive had for a while in the boot to push fuel up to the mechanical one which is still on the block

 

Seems to work fine and the bowl on the regulator is always full now. Unsure if the mechanical one is still required, but doesnt seem to be doing any harm. Just need to fit a inertia swith to the pump relay wiring - ill do that when i finally scrap the Croma.

 

___

 

Some months a go i bought these off trade me, and they have finally made their way to me. Big thanks to all the Boes on the OS Pony Express for getting them up.

They are 13"x6" American Racing Vectors with the worlds oldest slicks.

 

I polished and repainted them and finally test fitted one today.

 

 

Unfortunately they are 4x95.25mm not 4x98 so back into the universe they go

 

This stud pattern will fit MGF Spitfire/Heralds/GT6 hubs Metro/Rover 100, Maestro/Montego, Dolomites, Toledos and Marinas

 

So if you are sick BL fan and want some sweet rims let me know

__

 

I also picked up this fine tome yesterday:

 

[azzurro]

Happy 2015 all.

Took the 125 to Waiheke Island for the recent long weekend (Auckland Anniversary). First time its been out for a while.

 

At the rental house looking back to Auckland:

 

Man 'o War Bay

 

Ferry Home

Gravel roads (to Man O war Bay) were in terrible nick corrugations like ive only seen in Outback movies and highlighted some  issues.

 

The exhaust that i had 'improved' buy replacing the pre diff muffler (not straight through) with a resonator from the Croma. Sounds way better but the witness marks on the diff are pretty bad.

 

The top locking bolt on rear shocks (koni reds) also came loose and the main nut loosened off are now jammed not quite done up on the worn thread and so thump a bit too and i cant undo them. will need to sort that out before they saw the mounting hole oval. 124 rear shocks are much easier to find and will fit and are quite a bit shorter if i cant rethread the tired old Koni Reds.

 

Checking it all out once home also highlighted

- rear brake soft lines are cracked (what the hell? they are only 4 years old! Will check fronts too.)

- and what i thought was a rear caliper leak (noooo!) actually is a leaky axle seal (also fairly new).

- Diff is also getting a bit noisy (though side leak may be somewhat related? blown bearing??) may be a good excuse to look into them danish LSDs

- radiator has a slight weep from a crackes solder joint. 2L Engine runs hotter than the 1608 too - may swap in a later model front valance which also has vent holes .

- theres a weird rattle in the front somewhere  - hopefully radiator shroud just needs some split hose cable ties to it  it and a crappy metal dust shield i made by the steering box will get replace with an eqully crappy but not rattly rubber one.

 

Plenty to do before OS Nats in March!

[azzurro]

Couple jobs off the post-waiheke pre-Nats list:

 

- Fixed the radiator leak with Cold Weld while i was there pulles the fan out and put some foam tape on the fan shroud to stop some rattles (maybe)

 

- pulled the rear shocks and added some large washers which i suspect should have been fitted in the first place - nice and tight now.

One was a bit worse for wear   

lucky i had a random spare Koni, so i cut the pins off in the middle of the unthreaded part -  used the crush tube to hold the two pin parts straight and enlarged the slot in the tube and welded them together.

 

- cleaned and reoiled the filter socks and chucked them back on with !!REUSABLE!! cable ties.

dooloorrtooos ready for dooorting

 

[azzurro]

Managed to drop the engine out of the Croma with Chris yesterday and jam it in the trailer.

 

Happy to be fially getting it off the lawn, sure the neighbours are too

 

 

 

 

Thats what im after

 

tight fit

 

See how this thing tows with a load later this week some time.

[azzurro]

pre-nats prep has been going well.

 

Fixed up a few little things, swapped in the Croma alternator, and and changed the oil yesterday.

 

 

Got a WoF today. Dude mentions oil leak that i saw when I was changing the oil and thought i sorted by tightning a few sump bolts and wiping it up.

 

 

On the way home from the WoF, started runing a bit rough, but only at low revs (in my mind i thought blocked idle jet, or maybe a bit of oil on some electrics)??.

 

Once home and on the drive way, i pop the bonnet to see this:

 

 

 

FUCK_FUCKITY_FUCKFUCK.

 

Even if i fix the head gasket its still got that massive leak (note the milky oil puddle). GODDAMMIT!!

 

I think i may have done it by not having the alternator belt tight enough (which runs the water pump too) 

 

May be coming to nats in the Van. Sigh.

 

 

[azzurro]

Head off, nothing too obvious given the amount of cylinder pressure in the cooling system, maybe a water jacket breached somewhere??

 

but will have a closer look tomorrow - need a 2L head gasket ASAP, im 'out of stock'.

 

 

 

 

bed time, im pooped afer WestFest yesterday, big day tomorrow..

[azzurro]

After my last post the next day after getting gaskets and seals from Euro-Italian in Albany (reccomended!) got it all back together, making it only it to the supermarket for snacks and supplies, to turn back home around 10pm with a red hot manifold,  and resolved to spend the next morning fixing it good and proper after some sleep.

 

This done (retarded timing (i think i timed it off #3, not #4), found my lost 19mm socket in the fan shroud! and fix oil leak (crank seal spring had come out)) i eventually left at around 1pm to catch up with the group around 6pm at the Coroglen Tavern for dinner.

 

Did around 800km on the new gasket and all seems well (no oil leaks too!), greybeard customer at Euro-Italian while i was collecting bits had a geeze at the old gasket and reckoned it was just one of those things. I have used a newer style gasket (>$) with the reinforced interbore rings and a heat set polymer, so hopefully that is that.

 

May put a 'T' into the heater/rear head so the coolant is always looping through the rear of the head (suggestions on this welcomed!) and a new radiator is also on the parts want list - probably modify a RX2/3/4 job as they are cheap and plentiful, depending on the price of a custom job.

 

Anyway, i only took a few pics, hopefully some of the 125 on the dirt track will appear soon, which was very enjoyable but made the temp guage go a bit higher than my paranoia liked, so i only had a few rounds.

 

 

Holy fuck NATS was awesome. Im still a lttle overhung.

Next Stop : STRAYA CAAAAAAAAARNTS!

[azzurro]

have had a buddy move back from the big West Island staying in the garage since I got back from Coromandel, but hes got a place now so took the cover off and put the car into the shed.

 

Obviously after every small drive there is a big list of stuff to fix  , even if there was a big fix beforehand.

This drive was no exception. There are a few thing that ive been putting off for a while too.

 

super leaky (almost new) diff seal (yay tho, becasue its not the caliper, again )

 

The axle on other side has a stripped wheel bolt thread, and a noisy bearing. I have the wheel bearings ready to go on and spare axles, so ill need to pay some dude to do that. I want to get them checked for balance first tho - any suggestions?

New fancy brake lines to replace the not that old rubber ones that are split and cracked:

 

These two jobs have also made me think of fitting the Croma brakes too, as ill need to design and fit a new caliper carrier, which needs the wheel bearings off to fit anyway, plus all the bleeding etc. OTOH ill need new pads, discs and a refurb, as well as cable mucking about, so maybe not just yet, and the 125 brakes are excellent as they are.

 

 

Idiot light for the Croma internally regulated alternator, currently located in an idiot proof location, needs to be moved so the idiot can see it:

 

This means taking the dash out, which is no easy task.

 

Im also pretty sure im going to fit a RX2/3/4 radiator as they are cheap and only some 10-50mm wider than the stock one, and should offer plenty of cooling. Making the extra width room means moving the drivers side upright a bit, which ill also fit the later model front cooling holes that my early model doesnt have to get air over the lower 1/3rd of the radiator which should help some too :0. I will also mount so the top tucks under the slam panel instead of the factory 'leaning back' to make a bit more room between the engine and fan. will also add a T into the heater loop to save that end of the head from hot spots.

 

There is also a long list of annoying little things too:
- cheap side mirror is flaking crome off and now collapses at speed (new mirror)
- a couple of windows wind themselves down, and one wont quite wind all the way up (door cards off)
- exterior passenger door handle feels like its going to brake (broken tab? - new handle - if i have one 'in stock' else i dont know what to do if it does break)
- i dropped the scooter on it the other night, so got some paint chips to fix, plus a few rust bubbles coming though in the bottom of the doors etc.

 

However in making myself feel better news Ive also just won an auction for some new rims  :porc:
Will need to have a rims clearout from the bottom of the list i think!

[azzurro]

Fitted new wheel bearings. Needed them.

 

 

I heated up the second retainer quite a bit more than the first one went on easy but melted the inner bearing seal a bit
Also nicked the axle with the grinder  

 

New dif oil seals and O-rings.

 

Also swapped in the new HEL brake lines while i was there, nice product.

 

They were also needed.

<OLD LINES PIC>

 

 

Then fitted up the new rims, these were not needed.

They are Cheviot mesh  13x7 +20 and they came with 175/50 tyres and are 4x100. haha.

Rear looks pretty cool,

 

 

BUT inside of rear rim rubs on new brake line 

 

OTOH the front dosnt rub on anything,

 

BUT my eyes! oh god my eyes.

looks like a low rider up on dros

 

 

They can go in 'the worry about them later' pile.

[azzurro]

Did this in the daily the other day 

Good.one.dick.

Had to go back to pickapart and grab the oil cap i saw, considered and did not grab when there the day before 

Later that day however, this showed up from Summit Racing

A new guage set (old ones dont match interior or each other), a new fuel pressure guage (old one dont go) various hoses and fittings, and a new door mirror. Oh and Summit stickers, and this weeks promo catalogue featuring Mustangs  - you can literally build one from bits you can order online - eg new body tubs - $11k US!

New fuel pressure guage

New dash guages have a chrome bezel and black faces with white lettering like the rest of the 125 factory ones, and kinda look like the 124 Sport ones (but upside down). The all bolted/wired up to the old fittings/holder too making it an easy swap.

i either need to dim the new bulbs or brighten the rest of the dash!

Also plumbed in a loop at the rear of the head/heater hoses, and changed the brake reserviour lines.

Vacuum guage (lower right) plumed in too, but running off only one runner it was waving around a bit too much to last long or be much use so i pulled the fitting out again.

Tried the mirror, but it doesnt really fit as the base is a bit too long and would need to be fitted over the door/fender gap to allow the 1/4 window to open, so if anyone needs a 66-69 RH Camaro Door Mirror let me know 

Next major job, RX radiator conversion.